FOR the Rev Margaret Marr life as a woman priest is a far cry from that of her TV counter-part, the Vicar of Dibley's Geraldine Granger.

FOR the Rev Margaret Marr life as a woman priest is a far cry from that of her TV counter-part, the Vicar of Dibley's Geraldine Granger.

The adventurous clergy-woman took her second sermon at a tiny church 5,000 metres up in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by the graves of fallen mountaineers.

And as part assistant curate in Tarvin and part assistant to the chaplain in Tresco, her career will often take her to the Scilly Isles, where she will brave the elements, hopping from island to island in a small motor boat.

Margaret would be the first to admit that her lifestyle is a little unusual: 'It's not the first thing people expect when I tell them what I do,' said Margaret.

When the mother-of-two was ordained last month in front of 1,000 people at Chester Cathedral, she had at last fulfilled a burning ambition, which she had secretly harboured for nearly 40 years.

Resigned to never being able to become a priest, she never spoke of her wish - not even to her husband and childhood sweetheart Canon Donald Marr.

'I didn't think it was worth mentioning,' she said. 'It was never spoken of because it wasn't the done thing. Women just could-n't be priests.'

Mrs Marr says she got her calling when she was about 17. She said: 'I can't explain it, I just felt it was something that God wanted me to do.'

Brought up in Sandbach, Margaret attended Nantwich High School where she met Donald. She says they became sweethearts at the age of 11.

The young couple married in 1959 and five years later Donald was ordained and became a curator at Macclesf ield.

Work in the church took the couple to Sale, West Kirby and back to Nantwich. In the 1970s they moved to Waverton where they raised their two sons Simon and Andrew, now 38 and 35, before finally moving to Bunbury.

During this time she became a religious education teacher. She then became an education advisor for the Chester Diocese.

'I was busily employed and very happy with what I was doing', said Margaret who was a Chester magistrate for 21 years.

'I went into teaching, for ten years I worked for the Chester Diocese, I got married and had a family. I didn't dwell on it that much, there was no point.'

It wasn't until 10 years ago that radical changes within the church meant that women could be ordained. But circumstances worked against Margaret.

Donald had a massive stroke and the stress and strain of looking after her husband left her unwell herself, so they both took early retirement and moved to Tarvin.

But even when Donald recovered and was well enough to take up the voluntary post of rural officer for the Chester Diocese, ordination still looked to be impossible.

The Right Reverend Michael Baughen, then the Bishop of Chester had ruled that he would not ordain anybody over the age of 50, and as she was already 55.

It wasn't until two years ago that Margaret, now 66, saw her opportunity to be formally accepted into the priesthood.

The Right Reverend Dr Peter Forster took over at Chester Cathedral and scrapped the age limit.

Margaret says that it was her friends who encouraged her to apply for ordination - even though she had never mentioned that she wanted to.

The grandmother-of-four was more than qualif ied for the job. The ordination ceremony took place on Saturday June 28, where 12 priests, six men and six women, were welcomed into the clergy by the bishops of Chester, Birkenhead and Stockport.

The following week she and Donald flew to Zermatt, Switzerland, for a fortnight's working holiday to look after the church in the mountains.

The church was built by English mountaineers, but serves all English speakers, not just those who belong to the Church of England.

She said: 'We have been there many times before and we love it. Taking one of my first sermons as a priest there was a wonderful feeling. It is a beautiful place. Breathtaking.'

Margaret spoke of her other life on the Scilly Isles. She and Donald have been visiting Tresco to look after the church there for many years, but on her next visit she will be able to take communion.

Every day, she and her husband will battle the Atlantic to go to work. 'Luckily, the boat has a motor, but there are oars in case that fails,' she said.

'It does sound funny but it's just like working in any other parish - except of course the boating part of it.

'It's a lovely place. We go back because we like the people so much and they like us. It is bizarre to be in a place that is so dependant on something so unpredictable like the weather. The islands survive on tourism and everything the people need is brought in by boat.

It's hardly a quiet retirement, but for Margaret it is all she has ever wished for.